A little bit of travel, a little bit of yoga and a little bit of weightlifting from a little Natty.
Written by Erica Miller aka @yogadoodsies
August 17, 2018
After being in my car for a total of 19 hours I finally pulled up the the glowing Christmas af yard that I knew had to be Mels (a.k.a. mom). She made me a delicious a vegan meal of tofu, veggies, and rice and introduced me to her family (who thought I was a robber or a serial killer; hopefully my complete lack of intimidation eased their minds).
GUEST BLOG!
FRIDAY
After months apart and a week on a cruise ship to the Bahamas, I arrived into Orlando… I had the pleasure of reuniting with my best friend and other “rabble rouser”, Natalie! Those of you who remember Natalie’s road trip will recall her first travel companion, Jay, who was also a part of the grand Florida adventure.
Even though we live across the country from each other, whenever we get together it feels like we never were apart. You know those friendships? Where you always just pick up where you left off, no matter how much time has passed? That are met with a squeal, a bear hug, and endless conversation? Those are the best kind of friendships.
Even though there were some travel hiccups (Natalie’s flight getting delayed, my accidental booking of the hotel for the wrong dates)… everything turned out better than initially planned, with an even nicer resort for a slightly lower price. We made quick friends with another small group, and stayed up way too late chatting in the hot tub and drinking sake at a sushi restaurant on the hotel grounds.
September 21, 2018
True to form, I almost missed very first flight after moving to NYC. I swear it wasn’t my fault, my Uber driver was extremely rude and dropped me off at the wrong terminal! As I’m sprinting through the terminal, I get a text from my co-worker telling me he’s switched flight to be on my flight.
I’m the last one on the plane and, of course, I’m sitting next to my co-worker. Awkward small talk ensued when I really just wanted to sleep.
We separated after the airport because he needed to pick up his luggage and we weren’t staying at the same hotel. I had reserved an Airbnb and this cute little guy was there to greet me!
Can you guess the name of this dog? Answer at the bottom!
I spent August driving my dog and my belongings from California to New York. This wasn’t the average road trip as I was training for a weightlifting competition in September. This is the culmination of all of my work, enjoy!
September 12, 2018
For those of you that don’t know about USA Weightlifting, it is a national organization for weightlifters to compete in the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. You start competing for total in local meets. If your total is good enough, you move on to the American Open Series, then Finals, then Nationals. The very best of the very best of these competitors go on to the Olympics!
Now, now, I’m definitely not that good and I don’t intend to be but I qualified for the American Open Series in 2017 but didn’t compete 😦 so I was super excited for 2018. There are three American Open Series events every year and in 2018 they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Las Vegas. My friends and family are in the Bay Area so I invited my mother, her twin, Grace, my very best friend, Sarah and my good friend Olivia to watch me compete.
Coach Brian and I arrived on Wednesday morning and we went to a buffet at the Cosmopolitan. The interior looked like it was straight out of Alice in Wonderland’s tea party! I had been weighing in at 47kg all week so I splurged a little bit and got some sprinkles with ice cream hehe.
My mother, her sister and Olivia arrived on Saturday night and we took the tram to dinner at a Tequila Taqueria’s in Bally’s. I didn’t eat too much because I knew I had to make weight at 49kg in the morning but I enjoyed (kinda) watching everybody drink their margaritas.
Did I mention that Olivia is an amazing hairstylist and I desperately needed her to do my hair for the competition? I hadn’t seen her since before the road trip and I couldn’t go out on stage with my hair a mess.
Sarah arrived in time for my hair cut and I was so excited to see her, we chatted a little too long, whoooops.
Weigh in was early in the morning so I went to sleep as Olivia bleached and colored my hair. Yes, I am sleeping in these photos. How did I breathe sleeping like that? Not sure.
August 24, 2018
If you know me, you know that pretty much nothing in my world is allowed to actually go according to plan. I put my heart on the line from Detroit to New York and I knew it wasn’t going to go well. The drive to Niagara Falls turned into a long night in Columbus, Ohio and the day from Niagara to Boston turned into a direct drive to Manhattan.
August 25, 2018
Funny when you realize your Mr. Big is actually the Dennis to your Liz Lemon, ha!
Cheers and thank you for getting me from Detroit to New York and for letting this go.
August 22, 2018
Michigan here we come! I definitely thought I would be able to drive along Lake Michigan to Ann Arbor but there were too many trees in the way. Trees along the lake, who woulda thunk! Still, it was a perfect blue sky drive.
When I got to Ann Arbor, it looked like something from a Calvin and Hobbes book. BIG, beautiful houses on wide, clean streets. All the houses have big lawns and I knew Piccolo would be excited to have a yard for a couple days. Happy Picky!
Our Airbnb was very nice, three bedrooms and a finished basement.
CrossFit Tree Town was so much fun! They had a large group workout area, a barbell club and an endurance club. They tried to get me to do some cardio (HAH!) but there was no way I was getting on an assault bike. Tree Town felt like a real community away from home and I really loved their vibez.
August 19, 2018
Tyler and I have been best friends for many years and I was sad we had to part ways after Nashville. But! He was kind enough to drive me to Chicago and show me how to take the L around. I know Tyler and Piccolo were really sad to have to say goodbye. Aw 😦
After being with people for 19, let me say that again, 19 days straight, I was ready for some alone time so I walked around and around and around before heading home to order in delivery. I know Chicago is an amazing food city but, hey, I was exhausted!
August 18, 2018
Tennessee has always seemed like a cool place to visit but Tyler and I didn’t have a lot of time so we planned on lunch in Memphis and dinner in Nashville.
When we got to Memphis, we went straight to Beale St., home of the blues! There were lots of historical statues and loud beer gardens. We found B.B. King’s Blues Club and ate our weight in gumbo and collard greens while listening to live music. So much fun!
The Airbnb in Nashville was sooo cute! Piccolo was happy to explore and stretch his legs after traveling all day. I’m always impressed when I find a fully loaded bookshelf. Had to stick my nose in there for a bit 🙂
If somebody had told me that Nashville was the Vegas of the Midwest, I wouldn’t have believed it. We went down to Broadway and there were so many people: tourist milling the streets in cowboy boots, bachelorette parties singing and dancing on the back of extended tractor beds, and…us. LOL we felt very out of place. But hey I’m all for experiencing new things!
We ended up going down to The Gulch where the scene was a little more tame. Bar patios with games and really great people watching. I’m an old lady haha so we were home and asleep before midnight. BUT it was still a very cool experience and I would love to go back when I have time for more food!
August 10, 2018
Jay and I arrived in Denver to celebrate our last hours as dual travelers. We went to DOMO for dinner and it was amazing. Everything from the decor to the service to the food was on point!
After dinner, we took it easy and waited for Sarah to arrive. Jay was nice enough to wait up for her while her flight got delayed, and delayed, and delayed. As the hours went on, I got more and more sad. Tyler arrived around midnight but I slept and slept until Sarah finally arrived around 5 AM. It was frustrating because I only had about 48 hours with my bestest friend to start!! But it was reduced to a measly 24 hours. 😿😿😿
August 6, 2018
In case you didn’t know, since I work from home, I did have to get some work done every morning UGH. I also had to train for AO2!! While in Arizona, I had the pleasure of working out at Crossfit Can-Do. Everything in the gym looked brand new and the owner, Brandon, was very responsive and accommodating to my needs. If you’re in the area, check it out!
Weightlifting notes:
One good 35 snatch complex, one bad 35 complex. Saw that I was catching forward to cause the drops. Pulls felt great! Dropping at the top is nice and makes me reset before each pull. Squats were easy. Noticing huge difference when I lift with my butt vs quads.
Sweet Natty Dee